Personal Devices Research Articles

Immersive competence and immersive literacy: Exploring how users learn about immersive experiences

While immersive experiences mediated through near-eye displays are still a relatively immature medium, there are millions of consumer devices in use. The level of awareness of the forms of the interface and media will vary enormously across the potential audience. Users might own personal devices or might encounter immersive systems in various venues. We introduce the term immersive competence to refer to the general practical knowledge and skills that users accumulate about how typical immersive interfaces work—the ways in which buttons are used, main locomotion techniques, etc. We then introduce the term immersive literacy to refer to awareness of how immersive interfaces are unique, when they might be appropriate, typical forms of media, etc. We sketch out how users develop competence and literacy with immersive media, and then highlight various open questions that are raised.

Investigating the Adoption of Augmented Reality for Vocational Student Engineering Materials in Hybrid Learning

Education in Indonesia has experienced developments related to the use of technology. Learning on personal computers (PC) and smartphone technology devices is common, and it is also referred to as "hybrid learning." However, when researchers conducted a survey of SMK students in Surakarta, even though they had used personal computers or gadgets, they only used a few media software programs to study engineering material. Seeing this phenomenon, researchers want to identify students' needs for media software, namely mobile augmented reality. This identification aims to provide a critical initial analysis of the need for mobile augmented reality learning media software that is connected to a smartphone for engineering learning for SMK students. The research samples involved were students of SMK N 2 Surakarta and SMK N 5 Surakarta. Using questionnaires, field observations, and interviews as data collection techniques. The data obtained were analyzed descriptively. Define part of the 4D research model using the research method, and the research results show that SMK students in Surakarta require mobile augmented reality media in learning engineering material if hybrid learning is used.

A QoS-based technique for load balancing in green cloud computing using an artificial bee colony algorithm

ABSTRACT Nowadays, high energy amount is being wasted by computing servers and personal electronic devices, which produce a high amount of carbon dioxide. Thus, it is required to decrease energy usage and pollution. Many applications are utilised by green computing to save energy. Scheduling of tasks acts as an important process to reach the mentioned goals. It is worth stating that the vital characteristic of task scheduling in green clouds is the load balancing of tasks on virtual machines. Efficient load balancing moves tasks from overloaded to underloaded virtual machines to maintain the Quality of Service (QoS). This issue is an NP-complete problem, so this research suggests a new technique based on the behavioural structure of artificial bee behaviour. This method aims to improve QoS while lowering energy usage in green computing. In addition, the honey bees are considered the removed tasks from overloaded virtual machines and a candidate for migrating selected tasks with the lowest priority. The CloudSim testing findings demonstrate that the technique is successful in QoS, makespan, and energy usage compared to other ways.

An exploration of the possible educational opportunities and the challenges at the intersection of the physical and digital worlds occupied by 10–14 year-old students

In developed countries, digital technologies are disrupting every facet of students’ lives. It is no longer an option to turn off devices and disconnect from the outside world at the school gate. Educators are struggling with the number of technologies being introduced and how to safely and effectively integrate these tools in classrooms that have no boundaries. In an era where it seems that each child takes central place on the world stage; always connecting, learning, creating and sharing, it is timely to investigate the experiences of technology-rich 10–14 years old Australian students’ experiences with technology in everyday life, and reflect on the persisting challenges and the new possibilities being created by the myriad choices of technological tools and their uses. The purposive selection of the participants was based on the volunteers’ daily access to personal devices and frequent use of applications and various online platforms. This inductive qualitative study used concept mapping as a tool for conducting research and thematic analysis to identify and explore patterns in the data. Our findings reveal the formation of a fluid and hybrid digital rhizomatic non-hierarchical and multiplicitous network that allows students to connect, think, act, interact, access ideas and resources in ways that may assist educators in closing the gap between formal learning and informal learning whilst living in a rich technology world.

Two Functional Wheel Mechanism Capable of Step Ascending for Personal Mobility Aids

Obstacles such as ramps, steps, and irregular floor surfaces are commonly encountered in homes, offices, and other public spaces. These obstacles frequently limit the daily activities of people who use mobility aids. For this purpose, this study solves a slope minimization problem for personal mobility aids. As a solution approach, a gradient-reduction scheme is proposed, which allows existing mobility aids to reduce the required horizontal forces and vibrations when ascending steps while maintaining their wheel sizes. Practically, an axle-transitional wheel mechanism realizing the gradient-reduction computation model is established, and its step-ascending wheel prototype is developed. Specifically, since the proposed wheel enables integration into existing personal mobility-assisting devices, two functional roles, such as rolling and step ascending, can be used. The developed step-climbing wheel can help the users of mobility aids mitigate the aforementioned limitations. The physical and mental burdens of caregivers and medical staff can also be reduced by making the users of the gradient-reduction scheme more self-sufficient. This study provides details on the axle-transitional wheel mechanism and its step-ascending wheel prototype. The findings are analyzed mathematically, and their functionality is verified through extensive experiments using a prototype.

Mundane Food Photography

This article investigates mundane photo taking practices with personal mobile devices in the co-presence of others, as well as “divergent” self-initiated smartphone use, thereby exploring the impact of everyday technologies on social interaction. Utilizing multimodal conversation analysis, we examined sequences in which young adults take pictures of food and drinks in restaurants and cafés. Although everyday interactions are abundant in opportunities for accomplishing food photography as a side activity, our data show that taking pictures is also often prioritized over other activities. Through a detailed sequential analysis of video recordings and dynamic screen captures of mobile devices, we illustrate how photographers orient to the momentary opportunities for and relevance of photo taking, that is, how they systematically organize their photographing with respect to the ongoing social encounter and the (projected) changes in the material environment. We investigate how the participants multimodally negotiate the “mainness” and “sideness” (Mondada, 2014) of situated food photography and describe some particular features of participants’ conduct in moments of mundane multiactivity.

A survey on the (in)security of trusted execution environments

As the number of security and privacy attacks continue to grow around the world, there is an ever increasing need to protect our personal devices. As a matter of fact, more and more manufactures are relying on Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) to shield their devices. In particular, ARM TrustZone (TZ) is being widely used in numerous embedded devices, especially smartphones, and this technology is the basis for secure solutions both in industry and academia. However, as shown in this paper, TEE is not bullet-proof and it has been successfully attacked numerous times and in very different ways. To raise awareness among potential stakeholders interested in this technology, this paper provides an extensive analysis and categorization of existing vulnerabilities in TEEs and highlights the design flaws that led to them. The presented vulnerabilities, which are not only extracted from existing literature but also from publicly available exploits and databases, are accompanied by some effective countermeasures to reduce the likelihood of new attacks. The paper ends with some appealing challenges and open issues.

A Call to Expand the Scope of Digital Phenotyping

Digital phenotyping refers to near-real-time data collection from personal digital devices, particularly smartphones, to better quantify the human phenotype. Methodology using smartphones is often considered the gold standard by many for passive data collection within the field of digital phenotyping, which limits its applications mainly to adults or adolescents who use smartphones. However, other technologies, such as wearable devices, have evolved considerably in recent years to provide similar or better quality passive physiologic data of clinical relevance, thus expanding the potential of digital phenotyping applications to other patient populations. In this perspective, we argue for the continued expansion of digital phenotyping to include other potential gold standards in addition to smartphones and provide examples of currently excluded technologies and populations who may uniquely benefit from this technology.

Performance analysis of thermal cloak with porous silicon structure

Porous materials with micro/nanoscale pore size are widely used in various emerging fields such as thermal insulation outer layer of buildings and personal thermal management devices for their low density, high surface area, and perfect thermal properties. In our previous study, a nanoscale thermal cloak was constructed by a porous silicon structure and its cloaking performance was explored by the ratio of thermal cloaking. However, the effects of factors such as void ratio and dynamic temperature on the cloaking efficiency have not been explored. Therefore, in this work, by fixing the void ratio of the functional region and changing the void ratio of the minimum cell, three nanoscale thermal cloaks are constructed. Their cloaking effects at constant and dynamic temperatures are explored using perfect silicon thin films as a comparison. Cloaking can be produced at both temperature boundaries, and the smaller the minimum cell void ratio, the better the cloaking effect. Finally, the mechanism of the effect of the void ratio on the cloaking effect is explained by the phonon localization theory, and the smaller the minimum cell void ratio, the stronger the phonon localization. Our research can promote the development of nanoscale thermal cloaks and the engineering application of porous materials.

Co-occurrence of Screen Time and Eating Behaviors among Young Children Aged 5 to 9 Years.

High screen time, high energy dense food and low fruits and vegetables are important risk factors among children. The study aimed to find out co-occurrence of screen-time and unhealthy eating behavior among young children aged 5 to 9 years in Pokhara Metropolitan. A cross-sectional study was conducted among children. Face to face interviews were done with 352 parents of the selected children. The study was conducted from March to October, 2020. High screen time was defined as >2 hours screen viewing each day; low fruit vegetable defined as <3 servings a day; and ≥ one serving a day of energy dense food was categorized as high consumption. Out of total, 33.0% did not met recommendation for single health behavior, 38.9% did not meet for two and 23.9% did not for three health behaviors; and 62.8% had two or more risk behaviors. Of total, 19.6% had low fruit vegetable and high energy dense intake, 17.0% had high screen time and low fruit vegetable, 2.3% high screen time and high energy dense and 23.9% had high screen time, high energy dense and low fruit vegetable. Proportion of co-occurrence of multiple risk behaviors was higher among those whose parents had higher screen time, offered screen devices to them; and the children who had television and television cable at home, and had personal screen device (P<0.05). About two-third children had multiple risk behaviors; proportion is higher among those who had access to screen devices and higher parental screen time. It may require a combination of efforts to improve healthy behaviors.

Flexible, Wash-Resistant Human Mechanical Energy Harvesting and Storage System for Monitoring Human Movement.

The rapid development of personal portable electronic devices has brought an increasingly urgent need for flexible and portable power sources. Herein, a low-cost, wearable, efficient, sustainable energy harvesting and storage system for human motion detection has been developed, based on a supercapacitor (SC) and triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). Carbon cloth (CC)-loaded ZnO/ZnS nanoarrays and a PVD-treated polyurethane conductive sponge are employed as positive and negative triboelectric friction layers, respectively. Besides, flexible and robust silicone rubber provides stable output performance and enables the TENG to harvest mechanical energy from human motion even under complex conditions. As a result, it shows excellent electrical output performance in terms of the open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, and average power density, reaching 175 V, 12 μA, and 816.7 mW m-2, respectively. These outstanding performances enable the TENG to effectively charge an all-solid-state symmetrical SC (MnO2/LiMn2O4@CC//MnO2/LiMn2O4@CC) and subsequently store it as electrochemical energy for sustainable power supply. Because of the flexible all-texture-type structure of the entire system, it is capable of monitoring the human body's movement. This work has a promising future in random mechanical energy harvesting and storage, as well as human motion tracking.

Privacy-preserving transfer learning-based secure quantum image retrieval in encrypted domain for cloud environment

Nowadays, the rapid growth of personal handheld electronic devices encourages the individual and organizations to upload their information to cloud for storage and processing purposes. To ensure privacy, the images are encrypted using cryptographic schemes that are outsourced to the cloud. Though images are encrypted, searching for similar images leads the cloud server to access the image data as it performs computation over plaintext. Thus, to ensure the privacy of the images during image retrieval, the proposed framework presents a transfer learning-based secure quantum image retrieval scheme over encrypted cloud. The confidentiality of the images is guaranteed by introducing quantum-based image encryption. Meanwhile, clustered image feature vectors are extracted through the transfer learning model and protected using secure multiparty computation. During retrieval, the proposed system introduces a similarity comparison model for performing computation on encrypted data. The experiments and performance analysis show the effectiveness and security of the proposed scheme.

Gamified Physical Rehabilitation for Older Adults With Musculoskeletal Issues: Pilot Noninferiority Randomized Clinical Trial

Resource-rich countries are facing the challenge of aging societies, a high risk of dependence, and a high cost of care. Researchers attempted to address these issues by using cost-efficient, innovative technology to promote healthy aging and regain functionality. After an injury, efficient rehabilitation is crucial to promote returning home and prevent institutionalization. However, there is often a lack of motivation to carry out physical therapies. Consequently, there is a growing interest in testing new approaches like gamified physical rehabilitation to achieve functional targets and prevent rehospitalization. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a personal mobility device compared with standard care in the rehabilitation treatment of patients with musculoskeletal issues. A total of 57 patients aged 67-95 years were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n=35) using the gamified rehabilitation equipment 3 times a week or to the control group (n=22) receiving usual standard care. Due to dropout, only 41 patients were included in the postintervention analysis. Outcome measures included the short physical performance battery (SPPB), isometric hand grip strength (IHGS), functional independence measure (FIM), and the number of steps. A noninferiority related to the primary outcome (SPPB) was identified during the hospital stay, and no significant differences were found between the control and intervention groups for any of the secondary outcomes (IHGS, FIM, or steps), which demonstrates the potential of the serious game-based intervention to be as effective as the standard physical rehabilitation at the hospital. The analysis by mixed-effects regression on SPPB showed a group×time interaction (SPPB_I_t1=-0.77, 95% CI -2.03 to 0.50, P=.23; SPPB_I_t2=0.21, 95% CI -1.07 to 0.48, P=.75). Although not significant, a positive IHGS improvement of more than 2 kg (Right: 2.52 kg, 95% CI -0.72 to 5.37, P=.13; Left: 2.43 kg, 95% CI -0.18 to 4.23, P=.07) for the patient from the intervention group was observed. Serious game-based rehabilitation could potentially be an effective alternative for older patients to regain their functional capacities. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03847454; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03847454.

Marketing Analysis and Strategies of AAPL

AAPL is the representative of the Internet companies, which promotes the development of personal electronic devices and the media industry. Although AAPL currently has the largest market share, it faces vast threats and challenges due to the development constraints and continuous rise and growth of other companies. This paper investigates the popularity of the company's various products and AAPL’s future development strategies by comparing the company's product sales and company operation spending details in the second quarter of 2021 and 2022. At the same time, it also presents APPL’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities that can be utilized and threats to face by analyzing AAPL’s mobile phone market share and existing competitors. AAPL’s strengths are its well-known brand image and huge customer base. However, the high price of its products has led to the loss of customers in the low-end market. Therefore, to expand sales and demand, APPL should develop cheaper products and invest in new product technologies to create new product lines to attract more customers. With this in mind, this study also analyzes the industry's current difficulties and provides strategic advice for future development for technology companies similar to AAPL. These results shed light on guiding further exploration of business and marketing strategies.

Guest Editorial Multimodal Learning in Medical Imaging Informatics

The papers in this special section focus on multimodal learning in medical imaging informatics. Enormous amounts of health-related data are produced daily, such as those from personal devices, e.g., fitness trackers or mobile applications, ambient sensors, clinical data in electronic health records, pathology reports, lab results, medical images, voice recordings, etc. The practice of modern medicine increasingly relies on data from multiple sources to guide better care. Toward this goal, the papers in this section describe the tools and techniques that integrate multiple data types to describe a particular medical event/case toward developing higher confidence in their decision-making and guidance.

College instructors’ and students’ views of the use (and misuse) of personal mobile devices.

College instructors’ and students’ views of the use (and misuse) of personal mobile devices.

Preliminary Usability Evaluation of Personal Medical Devices towards Better Home Healthcare

Portable medical devices have been playing an important role in improving health outcomes across the socio-economic spectrum. In the recent decades, substantial population have started using such devices to monitor important vital signs. Significant proportion of these users are older patients with chronic diseases, declined physical and/or cognitive capabilities. Furthermore, these portable devices are often used in unguided environments, that can present unpredictable use contexts. In this preliminary study, we conducted usability inspection on five portable medical devices. Cognitive walkthrough followed by Nielson’s ten Usability Heuristic evaluation method were utilized for the purpose of usability inspection. Sixteen usability concerns were uncovered in such evaluation study. We also recorded the elapsed time of measuring vital signs with all five devices on a daily basis in a month. The average total completion time after familiarization (after the first week) was 5.17 minutes. Results suggest that ‘non-expert’, independent users may face challenges when using portable medical devices in home care settings. Further, the study results also indicate that unsatisfactory usability of portable medical devices could pose hinderances in technology adoption among low eHealth literate users.

Estimated potential death and disability averted with vehicle safety interventions, Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

To evaluate road safety in member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and estimate the benefits that vehicle safety interventions would have in this group of countries. We used a counterfactual analysis to assess the reduction in traffic deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost if eight proven vehicle safety technologies and motorcycle helmets were entirely in use in countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. We modelled each technology using country-level incidence estimations of traffic injuries, and the prevalence and effectiveness of the technology to calculate the reduction in deaths and DALYs if the technology was fitted in the entire vehicle fleet. The availability of electronic stability control, including the antilock braking systems, would provide the most benefits for all road users with estimates of 23.2% (sensitivity analysis range: 9.7-27.8) fewer deaths and 21.1% (9.5-28.1) fewer DALYs. Increased use of seatbelts was estimated to prevent 11.3% (8.11-4.9) of deaths and 10.3% (8.2-14.4) of DALYs. Appropriate and correct use of motorcycle helmets could result in 8.0% (3.3-12.9) fewer deaths and 8.9% (4.2-12.5) fewer DALYs. Our findings show the potential of improved vehicle safety design and personal protective devices (seatbelts and helmets) to reduce traffic deaths and disabilities in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. These improvements can be achieved by vehicle design regulations and creating consumer demand for safer vehicles and motorcycle helmets through mechanisms such as new car assessment programmes and other initiatives.

Exhibit Hall Is Place to Be!

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Annual MeetingFull AccessExhibit Hall Is Place to Be!Vernetta CopelandVernetta CopelandSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:25 Feb 2023https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2023.03.3.64AbstractIf you think you are already familiar with APA’s Exhibit Hall, think again. It’s been reimagined as a place to learn about new books, products, and medications; enjoy coffee and snacks; hear from psychiatry’s thought leaders; get a massage; and play games with colleagues.The Exhibit Hall continues to offer attendees new and engaging activities as well as opportunities to learn about new products and services related to psychiatry. After last year’s successful Annual Meeting in New Orleans—where it was obvious that APA members were glad to gather in person once again—exhibitors are gearing up on a larger scale this year to interact with attendees and share information. Over 250 exhibitors are expected—check out the list of names and a map of the Exhibit Hall in the Annual Meeting Program Guide available at Registration and on the APA Meetings App. Attendees at APA’s 2022 Annual Meeting in New Orleans get a snack at one of the Mid-Day Mingles in the Exhibit Hall.Oscar & AssociatesAPA continues to put safety first for the health of APA attendees, exhibitors, vendors, and staff. This year’s COVID guidelines require that all attendees at the meeting be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. By attending the meeting, each individual attests and affirms compliance with this request.The Exhibit Hall is an integral part of the meeting, and the schedule has been carefully planned. To encourage attendance at plenary sessions and to allow exhibitors a break, the Exhibit Hall will be closed each day from 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. The Exhibit Hall will resume with a Mid-Day Mingle where light food and snacks will be available.Exhibit Hall InformationExhibit Halls A-C, Exhibition Level, Moscone CenterSaturday, May 2011:45 a.m.-4 p.m.Sunday , May 219:10 a.m.-10:30 a.m.11:45 a.m.-4 p.m.Monday, May 229:10 a.m.-10:30 a.m.11:45 a.m.-4 p.m.Tuesday, May 239:30-10:30 a.m.11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m.The Stage will serve as the main hub for attendees to meet up with colleagues; charge personal devices; listen to lively presentations; or just take a few moments to rest between sessions in a casual, relaxed setting. Non-CME presentations will be offered in a few formats. The Product Showcases, which will be held in two theaters in the Exhibit Hall, include 16, 60-minute sessions. For early risers, Product Showcases have been added each morning at 9:30 a.m. to include breakfast items along with coffee and tea (dependent on company preference). The 30-minute Huddles and 30-minute Coffee & Conversations sessions will also take place at The Stage. The popular Coffee & Conversations sessions are designed to promote engagement among attendees with APA thought leaders and dynamic presenters on exciting and timely topics. Therapeutic Updates are an extension of the Exhibit Hall. They will be held at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square. Sessions are planned Saturday to Monday, May 20 to 23, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. All non-CME sessions are on a first-come, first-served basis, so be sure to mark your calendars to attend!The new Mind & Body Pavilion will be available to encourage attendees to focus on their well-being in three areas: Calm, Create, and Challenge. In the “Calm” area, attendees can get a massage with a licensed massage therapist trained to address any tension areas in the upper body. In the “Create” area, attendees can collaborate and paint selected works of art. In the “Challenge” area, attendees can compete with each other in various games such as giant Jenga® and Connect Four® games. Don’t forget to drop by APA Central and learn more about the benefits of membership. Check out the PsychPRO booth, APA’s mental health registry, and sign up to participate if you haven’t already. Purchase your DSM-5-TR at the APA Publishing Bookstore at a discount. The Career Expo offers recruitment possibilities for those searching for employment opportunities, and the Publishers Expo provides the latest publications you need for your professional library.We are looking forward to a great meeting, so plan now to take part in all the Exhibit Hall offerings and the Annual Meeting as a whole. ■Vernetta Copeland is associate director of exhibits and sponsorship sales in APA’s Department of Meetings and Conventions. ISSUES NewArchived

An Innovative Design and Fabrication of Pneumatic Skate Scooter

Abstract: It is difficult to get that compressed air can be used to drive the Automobiles. However that is true, and the “compressed air operated scooter” as it is popularly known, has Caught the attention of researchers throughout the world. It has carbon-free and is ideal for city driving conditions and economical friendly. Today all the vehicles are mostly conventional &amp; non-conventional fuel produce large amount of harmful gases like CO2,NO2,SO2 etc. which can increase the global warming. In automobile &amp; industrial work, the pneumatic system plays an vital role. MDI is one of the top Companies that hold the international patents for the Compressed air operated automobiles. Even though it seems to be an Eco- friendly solution. The electricity that requires for pollution in the long run. This vehicle is a potentially revolutionary personal transport system device. While developing this vehicle the control of air pressure and energy density requirement for output energy release and emission control have to be mastered for development of a safe, light weight and cost effective compressed air vehicle for upcoming features. The Compressing air has to be considered while figuring the overall Efficiency. In spite of that, the compressed air Automobiles will come up with the best reducing air.